Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse are to revive their Smashie and Nicey DJ characters to help Radio 2 mark its 40th birthday.

The cheesy presenters have not been seen since their last performance on Comic Relief in 1997, save for a brief appearance at the We Know Where You Live Amnesty benefit concert in 2001.

The duo will recreate the first edition of Pick of the Pops, in tribute to the late Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman who inspired the characters, as part of a week of celebrations in October.

Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas said the reunion was prompted by Enfield's affection for Freeman.

She told MediaGuardian: 'It occurred to me that we could do it and it did not take long to get Harry and Paul signed up. Harry Enfield had been so affected by Alan Freeman's death, I thought he would want to do it as a tribute to Fluff.'

She added that Radio 2 would also broadcast a Kenny Everett show from 1981 to reflect the spirit of his broadcasts from Radio Caroline at the time of Radio 2's launch.

‘It's interesting to see what has moved on and what has stayed the same,’ she said. ‘Kenny Everett for example sounds as superb now as we hoped he would. If he was around now, we'd expect to have him on Radio 2.’